NFL Rumors: Lamar Jackson plays hardball, D-Hop goes east, and a relevant update on the 49ers’ QB room
By Kristen Wong
NFL Rumors: Lamar Jackson’ attempt to sabotage his own franchise smells like desperation
On Monday, Lamar Jackson intentionally blindsided his organization by releasing the details of his trade request during his head coach’s media meeting.
While he gave fans some solace by clearing up his future and declaring that he does, in fact, want to leave the Baltimore Ravens, the way he went about it has attracted the wrong kind of attention.
Boiled down to its central question, why did Jackson pull the carpet from under the Ravens’ feet?
The most rational answer is that Jackson currently isn’t getting the offers he wants. This is his desperate attempt to try and inflate other teams’ interest in him and force his way out of Baltimore, regardless of who gets hurt in the process.
The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec writes:
"If Jackson was hearing what he wanted to hear and generating the interest that he wanted, why would he feel the need to go public with a trade demand? Other players, including Jackson’s close friend, Marquise Brown, and tight end Hayden Hurst, have gotten their trade request granted by doing it privately. Today’s move suggests things aren’t exactly going in the right direction and he — or whoever is advising him — felt the need to play hardball."
Compared to the Aaron Rodgers lamentable standoff, Jackson’s situation has taken a much uglier turn.
Prior to Jackson’s public letter, the Ravens held the leverage: they placed the non-exclusive tag on Jackson to keep him close by, but let him try and find a better offer elsewhere. Any team that wanted Jackson would have to get Baltimore’s ultimate stamp of approval.
Two weeks later, Jackson’s market has arguably waned, and most of his top rumored suitors were publicly out on Jackson once free agency began.
By releasing a weeks-old trade request and declaring he wants to leave the Ravens, Jackson lowers his trade value and also lowers the Ravens’ leverage. It’s not rocket science. Jackson definitely knows this.
If things keeps going down this collision course, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Jackson stage a holdout and refuse to play on his tag in 2023. The star quarterback is trying every move in the book to orchestrate his exit and secure his bag — brace yourselves, it’s only going to get worse.